During a fever, Tateo, the male protagonist believes he is dying and has the hallucination that his beautiful wife, Reiko (Tamaki Katori), the daughter of a wealthy family, is having an affair w/ another man. He then tells her an ancient Chinese story: the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi wanted to test the faithfulness of his wife, so he faked his own death; the wife was grief-stricken and went into mourning. While funeral arrangements were in progress, a handsome young man came to call on Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi's wife soon fell into love w/ the young man and decided to marry hi. However, the young man fell ill; his servant said that the only medicine to cure him is human brain. Zhuangzi's wife eventually decided to break his husband's coffin and take his brain. However the young man turns out be Zhuangzi in disguise.
A power struggle in the fief of Okazaki causes the death of Namiji, a nobleman's daughter. As her fiancé seeks revenge, he finds Namiji's cat helping him, along the Fifty-Three stations of the Tokaido Road.
First World War. In a largely rural area of neutral Spain, two families confront one another and play a part in embarrassing situations because they don't support the same side in the war.
Despite the disagreement of their mother, the sons of old Taras Bulba are taken to the Dnieper camp on their return from a Kiev seminary, to teach them how to become real Cossacks.
Raja, the son of a rich man who was cheated of his wealth by Jambu, grows up in an orphanage. He becomes a famous poet in the city with the help of Jambu's family, unaware of his past.
A powerful man posing as a gladiator in Rome's fourth century discovers a plan to put the beautiful Queen in prison, which he thwarts by exposing a sinister duke as a traitor.
